Monday, May 31, 2010

I have a friend of mine who participates in Music Monday, and since today's theme is 80's music, I decided to participate, too!! I absolutely loved Bon Jovi growing up, and this my very favorite song they've ever released!

This is another song by Nelson...even though they were very short lived, I loved this song!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ok, I know I always post about Emma and Mac on here, but I decided to make this post about Randall. For those of you who don't know our story, here it goes:

I remember seeing Randall for the first time when I was a junior in high school. He played softball with my daddy, and he had come over to the house for a party. He was with another girl, and I would sneak peaks at him through the window when I was supposed to be in the back of the house. I don't think he even knew I existed then. Now fast forward to the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. I had just broken up with my boyfriend of 2 years, and I was seeing Randall quite frequently at the ball park. My mom had been in a wreck, and Randall called to check on her, but then he asked to talk to me. I knew my daddy wouldn't be thrilled about who I was talking to, so I told him it was another friend when he asked. Randall called several times, and I really enjoyed talking to him. On August 15, 1998 Ithe weekend before moving back to college), Randall and I played on the same co-ed softball team in a tournament, and we've been together ever since. Now for the first SEVERAL months, we didn't tell my parents because my dad had said he didn't want me to date Randall. I finally broke down and told my mom, and my dad found out because of a message left on his answering machine.

After we had been dating 6 months, Randall found out he was being deployed to Kuwait (he was in the Army National Guard). It was a very stressful time for me, but we made it through. Needless to say, that wasn't our last deployment together! Randall was deployed to Egypt while we were planning our wedding, and he was in Iraq when Emma was born.

I know sometimes he can say things or do things that drive me crazy, but I wouldn't change him for anything! I know God put Randall in my life for a reason! I love you, Randall!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Kelly is hosting "Show Us Your Life" and this week the topic is your hometown. Like that Kelly, I live in Arkansas, but I live in Central Arkansas, about an hour north/northeast of Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. I live in Searcy. A few interesting facts about Searcy...We are the county seat of White County, and our courthouse is on the national historic registry.We are home to Yarnell's Ice Cream... the best ice cream on Earth! As a matter of fact, I actually went to high school with one of the Yarnell's, and she is now a major part of the operations!!Searcy is also home to Harding University. Growing up here and being Baptist, I always said I would never go to Harding...and I didn't, at least for my undergraduate degree. However, I was married when I started my master's, so I did attend Harding and graduated from there in 2005 with a Master's Degree of Education in Reading.This is where I graduated from high school, and I am very honored to be able to teach in the same school district that gave me so much knowledge growing up. Searcy has wonderful teachers, and I only hope to be able to live up to the many who influenced me!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Ok, I know I am a little late in posting this, but May is crazy around our house with the end of school and softball. Now that I'm out of school for summer vacation, I plan on catching up on the blog!!

On May 2, we had Emma's 6th birthday party. We held it at church. She requested a fashion party, so we let the girls come in their favorite dresses (nice or dress-up) and we let them do nails and make-up. They had a wonderful time! Emma also wanted an ice cream sundae bar instead of a cake, which was fine with us!! Here are a few pictures from the day!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner Blog is hosting her weekly "Show Us Your Life" this week and it's all about your kids' names or your future kids' names. As we all know, there will be no future kids for the Martin clan (although I would LOVE more!!)but there are stories behind my children's names!!

Emma Grace Martin (6 years old): Emma is named after my paternal great-grandmother. The older Emma also had red-hair like my Emma. I don't remember much about her. Actually, my only memory of her is going to her house and sitting on her porch with her. Even though Emma is a very popular name (it's #2 on the list this year following Isabella), that's not why we chose it. I remember when I was pregnant with Emma. Randall was being ready to deploy to Iraq, and I told him we had to choose names for the baby BEFORE he left because I couldn't stand to call the baby "it." We picked Emma, and he liked how Grace flowed with it.

Mac Patton Martin (3 years old): Both Mac's first and middle names come from family names. Mac is after Randall's maternal grandfather, whom Randall was very close to. I never met him because he passed away before Randall and I even met, but from what I understand, he was a very loving man. We did change the spelling a bit (from Mack to Mac). Patton is after my maternal grandfather. It's actually my mom's maiden name. My grandparents had 4 girls (all 2 years apart), so they didn't have a boy to carry on the name. I always told them growing up that Patton would be in my son's name, and it is!!

Other Names I Like: There are several other names I would've liked to have used for children's names: Sidney (boy) or Sydney (girl)...after my paternal grandfather and my dad, Spencer (after my dad's cousin), Mandi Lee (after my materal great-grandmother), and Charlie (boy) or Charley (girl) after my maternal great-grandfather).

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I couldn't resist posting this. I've posted it before, but with Mother's Day right around the corner, I thought I would post it again...here's to all the preemie moms out there...

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. This year thousands of mothers will give birth to a premature baby. Did you ever wonder how mothers of preemies are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger.

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, “Give her a premature baby.”The angel is curious. “Why this one, God? She’s so happy.”

“Exactly, “ smiles God. “Could I give a premature baby a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel.”

“But does she have patience?” asks the angel.“I don’t want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she’ll handle it."

“I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence that are so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I’m going to give her has his own world. She has to make it live in her world and that’s not going to be easy.”

“But, Lord, I don’t think she even believes in you.”God smiles, “No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness.”

The angel gasps, “Selfishness? Is that a virtue?”God nods. “If she can’t separate herself from the child occasionally, she’ll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child who comes in a less than perfect way. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she is to be envied."

“She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says ‘Mommy’ for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it. When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations.“I will permit her to see clearly the things I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side.”

“And what about her patron saint?” asks the angel, the pen poised in mid-air.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

of "kornadoes." Or at least that's what Mac is calling them. We had bad weather last night and it's going on tonight again. This was our conversation a few minutes ago after Randall and I picked Emma and Mac up from Grandma's and came home under a tornado warning.

Mac: "Momma, there's no kornado right now, but it might storm."Me: "What's a kornado?"Mac: "It goes round and round and round in a circle (while making the motion) and can break your house."Me: (laughing) "Is there going to be a kornado?"Mac: "No, but it might storm!"